Four-legged animals, particularly dogs, have long worn simple garments to protect them from cold or wet weather. Dogs have a wide assortment of sweaters, rain jackets, hats, and boots to keep them comfortable outdoors. Dogs that work often wear distinguishing uniforms, such as the colored capes or vests worn by assistance dogs. Dogs that work in law enforcement or the military may even wear armored apparel.
Dogs that have been groomed for a show may wear some sort of coverall suit to keep them clean, such as to keep them from accidentally rubbing against a dusty surface. Containment suits to keep insecticidal dust in contact with a dog's fur for a period of time are also known.
Both types of “cleanliness” garment for a dog are typically designed with air vents to keep the dog from overheating while wearing the coverall. Thus they prevent bulk transfer of dirt or insecticide between the inside and the outside of the suit, but do not totally prevent material, especially small particles and hairs, from entering or leaving the suit.
One very specialized job that dogs can perform is to identify and locate various harmful materials, such as bacteria, molds, and allergenic chemicals. Colonies of mold, yeast, or bacteria often create chemical products of their metabolism that have an odor that is diagnostic of the type of organism. Dogs can be trained to respond to these characteristic odors and to indicate the location of the strongest source of a detected odor.
For example, a dog trained to recognize characteristic odors from molds can locate infestations that are not visible, such as on the inner surface of wallpaper or underneath floor covering in houses. Dogs can also find colonies of harmful fungi and bacteria in restaurants, hospitals, and manufacturing areas such as semiconductor fabrication cleanrooms.
Bacterial types that can be identified by their odors include E. Coli, Salmonella, and Listeria. These genera include several pathogenic species that are health hazards to animals and humans. Bacteria and fungi can also cause various types of defects and yield loss in manufacturing.
It is desirable that dogs that perform jobs in restaurants, hospitals or other health care facilities, and manufacturing areas wear distinctive garments to indicate that they are service dogs and not unauthorized pets. Such garments are preferably also protective for the dogs and for the facility.
For example, dogs typically shed hairs, dander, and other materials when they move. These are allergenic to some people and are never seen as benign when found in a restaurant meal or on a semiconductor wafer. Thus, a garment for a dog working in a facility that prepares food, provides health care, or manufactures microscopic or sterile articles would preferably envelop the dog and keep hair and dander inside.
It is desirable that a work garment for a dog be constructed somewhat like “cleanroom” garb for humans: made of lintfree fabric that does not allow passage of small particles in either direction, composed of parts that overlap sufficiently that movement does not open a gap between parts or create a “bellows” effect to puff particles out between parts of the garment, and covering substantially all of the body.
However, human cleanroom garb typically either leaves the face bare or covers the face with a paper or fabric covering that air can penetrate. In the case of extremely “clean” applications, a human cleanroom suit may contain its own air source, such that the person may be totally enclosed in an impermeable unit.
A dog that is trained to detect certain odors uses a special type of breathing that maximizes the sensitivity of the sense of smell. The dog breathes more air in and out than is generally used for simple respiration and the air is preferably not filtered or obstructed. Filtration of the atmosphere through a permeable mask can add spurious odors and obscure the directionality of a scent. Thus, a cleanroom suit for a dog would have special requirements for the design of the face covering.
A dog trained to locate odors typically detects an odor then gradually approaches the strongest source of the odor. To signal the center of the odor, the dog may point to the source of odor with a paw, sit down directly in front of it, or stand close to it and wag the tail. Thus, an odor-detecting dog typically comes close to the source of an odor, which may be a pathogen or substance that may be harmful to the dog.
It would be desirable that a work suit for a dog protect the dog from hazards the dog encounters. Although the dog's nose must be relatively free to process air, it is desirable that the nose also be protected against accidental or careless contact with harmful substances. In fact, it would be desirable that the dog's entire body, including the pads of its paws, be protected from contact with pathogens or harmful chemicals.
There is a need for an identifying garment that a dog can wear while locating characteristic odors in restaurants, hospitals, laboratories, skilled nursing facilities, and cleanrooms. There is further a need for a garment that prevents particles from being shed by the dog while in the controlled facility. There is further a need for a garment that protects the dog from contact with dangerous materials. There is further a need for a protective garment for a dog that does not impede the dog's breathing or interfere with the dog's sense of smell.